Vehicles having an engine and a transmission with a plurality of gear ratios have been known in the art for quite some time. The transmission of the vehicle allows the engine to run at an appropriate RPM and provide various torques and speeds down to the powertrain to the wheels of the vehicle to provide forward motion of the vehicle.
Also known is controlling the transmission having a plurality of gear ratios using various input criteria such as engine speed and requested acceleration from the driver, for example, through a driver input on an accelerator pedal.
These transmissions to date have suffered from a common problem in that when operating the vehicle in a congested freeway or highway traffic situation, for example in a traffic jam on an expressway, a jerky start motion can be experienced by the operator of the vehicle. As such, the present invention seeks to remedy this problem by providing a transmission system and method capable of giving a smoother driving experience for a vehicle in a congested traffic situation.